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I spent part of the day with the installer then a couple more hours on the phone with Sonos support. Still can't get ny new Playable + Amp x2 provisioned properly.



Here's my simplified network topography:



Internet ==> Arris BGW-210-700 ==> Cisco RV130 (gateway) ==> Cisco 3560cg (core switch) ==> Netgear GS108 ==> Playbase / Amp 1 / Amp 2 (wired connection)



All of the Sonos gear lives in VLAN101, 192.168.20.0/23. The Netgear is wired into port 2 on the 3560cg.



Also, off the Cisco RV130 is this path...



==> Linksys LGS 116P ==> Cisco WLC 3504



The WLC3504 broadcasts an SSID on the same VLAN101, Apple iOS clients will join that SSID to setup & then control the Sonos gear.



After countless attempts to get the gear setup, both with each wired to the Netgear GS108 and each joined the SSID on VLAN101, I had no success. Sonos device based diagnostics informed us that multicast traffic is not being transmitted at all or at least properly. The Sonos device do obtain a DHCP address on VLAN101. But the Sonos app can't complete the setup process.



So my network config questions are...




  • Does STP need to be configured, and then how, on the 3560?
  • Does multicast routing need to be configured on the 3560?
  • How does multicast need to be configured on the WLC3504?
  • Does MDNS need to be enabled/configured on the WLC2504 or the pertinent SSID?

While working with Sonos support and then after, I tested with a variety of settings on the 3560 and 3504. I couldn't seem to hit on the right combination of settings.



Here's the quotable part of the follow up email from the very helpful and patient Sonos support engineer:



"As per our conversation, the issue we're facing is because your network isn't passing multicast traffic properly. If you're able to get multicast going, I expect you'll be able to complete setup and start enjoying the system without issue."



I'll be researching and testing. But any help people in the community can give would be very much appreciated.



Thanks a lot.
Problems with STP would cause is primarily network storms, and secondly unwanted links between networks, but I can't see it causing blockage of multicast. If all your sonos equipment is connected to the same switch, I don't think you will have any issues but the baseline is to use classic STP path costs, and also put one of the switch as STP root. There are posts about the correct STP config for sonos.



Assuming you are indeed on a single vlan, the only cause I can see is unwanted filtering in some of the equipment that you are using, and wired-wireless bridging is indeed a possible cause. Unless you have a dumb access point you could wire just to identify if your WLC3504 is the culprit, I guess you'll have to trial and error your way forward. Cisco support might be able to help as well. This is not the first time I've heard about Cisco bridges blocking traffic by default.



As a side note: sonos seems to fallback to broadcasts (255.255.255.255) for discovery in addition to multicast, so anyone of them should do.



Useful links I found: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-lan-wlan/81671-multicast-wlc-lap.html



https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/8-2/config-guide/b_cg82/b_cg82_chapter_01111.html



Problem though is that usually you battle multicast onto the wireless clients, and ssdp which sonos uses is the opposite. Ssdp is part of upnp, so any info regarding upnp support is of interest to you.



Good luck!
It might help to enable the IPv4 Multicast Passthrough (IGMP Proxy) setting in the RV130. Not entirely logical if that's not supposed to affect intra-VLAN traffic, but worth a try.
It turns out that the Cisco switch I rely on as my core switch does not support IP Multicast routing without an upgrade license. It comes with Cisco’s ‘ipbase’ license features and would need ‘ipservices’ license features to do multicast.



https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-c-series-switches/data_sheet_c78-639705.html



Minor problem - this model, 3560cg, can't be upgraded! So, the interfaces are stuck in a state of disabled multicast-ability perpetually...



cisco3560cg#show ip multicast interface vlan 101 | include routing

Multicast routing: disabled

cisco3560cg#show ip multicast interface vlan 102 | include routing

Multicast routing: disabled

cisco3560cg#show ip multicast interface vlan 1 | include routing

Multicast routing: disabled



So, I setup an entirely separate network with different router (Linksys RVS4000) wired to an additional port in my media cabinet. Then wired in the PlayBase and both Amps to a non-managed Cisco desktop switch. I also put an AirPort Express on the Cisco desktop switch so that iOS devices can administer the Sonos gear by changing to the SSID hosted by the AirPort express.



Convoluted for sure but everything is working now.



What an ordeal.



Thanks for your help.
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